The Begining of Our Lives- Project Freelancer
by ND'sRebel
Summary: A Hundred kids where taken from their beds to become Spartan III's.. But for nine of them, is there something else waiting in their future..? Please Review! If you have an OC that you would like to have put in, just say so, or any suggestions :) I know that in the BOOKS that the kids are taken at 5-7yrs, and that Spartan III's are orphans! But this is MY story.. NO HATE REVIEWS!
1. Chapter 1

**CH 1.**

Life was hard on Reach, but for us kids, it was a little easier. Every day we went to school and learned useless things. One day during recess, two strange people showed up. Even from across the playground, I could tell that the man was used to being in a uniform, on a ship. The woman on the other hand, looked perfectly at ease in the casual clothes she wore.

I jogged over to John, the top guy in our class, although it looked like I was running towards him. "Incoming at two o'clock," I said as I stopped next to him. As we turned to watch the newcomers, the next fastest runner and my 'friend' Lita joined us. Standing on top of the dirt pile, arms crossed and looks of uninterest on our faces, we looked quiet formable.

"I need to talk to John, Lita, and Kitiara," The lady said, stopping at the base of the hill. We slid down to her.  
"So talk," John demanded, his arms still crossed.  
"First of all, I'm Dr. Hasely. I run one of the UNSC's programs cal-"

"Unless you have something interesting to say, I'm leaving." I interrupted her, bored already.

"Let's play a game. If you win, you get one of these," she said pulling out 3 gold coins. That had all of our attention. "Start here, first one to that tree and back wins."

As we took our places on the line that she had drawn, I glanced over at John. He was fast, but Lita was faster, and I was faster than both of them. He seemed to notice I was watching him, because he looked at me and smiled. "Go!" the man next to Hasely said. My boots dug into the ground, and I shot away from the line, Lita not to far behind. By the time I was at the tree, john was about halfway there, and Lita was about 3/4ths of the way. I waved as I passed them, just to be halfway mean.

I slid to a stop beside Dr. Hasely, not even breathing hard. "Easy. Almost too easy," I said as Lita crossed the line.  
"easy for you to say," Lita commented, giving me a friendly shove. I laughed, because it was true. It was easy for me, too easy. And I didn't like things too easy. When John finally crossed the line, Lita and I were sitting on the ground discussing the morning's lesson: History of the UNSC. I kept looking at the coin in my hand, halfway paying attention to what was going on. "Come on Kit. Next one is starting." Lita said while standing up and brushing off her pants. I smiled and got up.  
"Right, Like I'm going to be able to answer before you." We both laughed at the truth.

"What is the capital of Halo, and what city is it located in?"  
"Capital of Halo is Halo, and its located in Kellict," Lita answered first, naturally.

By the time that the bell rang to end recess, we each had a coin. Back in the classroom, I started to ignore the teacher, until I heard the words: 'Freelancers. They are the most effective assassination type. They have even been hired to kill Spartans.' That made me pay attention. Spartans were cool, but they were becoming more common now. The Freelancers, or guns for hire, were mysterious. No one ever knew they were there until they showed themselves. That is, IF they showed themselves.  
"Who knows anything about the Freelancers?" Our teacher, Ms. Devore asked. To her surprise, and to everyone's, I raised my hand.  
"Freelancers are a tightly knit group of people, pretty much like the Spartans. There are usually only 50 Freelancers at a time, no counting the Director and the Counselor. One named after each of the states on Earth." The class was totally silent. No one was supposed to know about the Freelancers. **No one.**

"How do you know that?" Ms. Devore demanded.  
"My stepfather," I shrugged as I received blank looks from everyone. "His name is Michael J. Caboose. He was friends with a Freelancer, Agent Texas. They told me all about project Freelancer." More blank looks from everyone in the room, except from Lita, and two other kids. The new guys, Callie and Cole. They had both moved to my crappy little town in the middle of nowhere. Nobody knew their parents. Ms. Devore looked worried, because none of her former kids ever knew about P.F. This would have to be reported to Dr. Hasely immediately.

**Meanwhile on Earth: 21 July, 2040- Midnight.**

Roughly 50 kids were taken from their beds, all of them younger than 15. Twelve year olds Serena Heath and Sam Jenkins went missing that night, along with 10 year old Carmen Spiller and 11 year old Jessica Crewman.

**Back on Reach  
** Another 50 kids were taken from their beds on Reach. Out of those 50, five of them were confirmed takers by their own Teacher. 12 year olds Kitiara Spillmen, Lita Hardy, Callie Duncan, and Cole Waggner, along with 11 year old John Shoemaker, were all confirmed takers, by Ms. Devore.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch2

Hours, days, weeks, maybe even months… Nobody knew how long we were stuck in cyro tubes. We only knew that something was up. Jerked out of cyro sleep, we looked around for our friends. As I tried to locate Lita, I couldn't help but notice that there were misshaped kids, along with dead bodies. The kids that died were being covered up by sheets. Spotting Lita, I headed her way as the steel doors slid open, revealing a double row of armed handlers. They marched in, each of them selecting a child at random and pulling them aside. Most of the kids were too stunned to fight back, but I wasn't.

When I jumped up onto a gurney, I quickly glanced around at the other kids. Cole was bent over a gurney, his left arm twisted around behind him. Callie stood off to the side, watching him sadly. Lita was on top of her own gurney, keeping out of the reach of one of the handlers. As the brown haired handler tried to grab my ankle, I stepped on his head and jumped, at the same time Lita did.

Rolling to soften the blow, Lita and I swept the feet out from under the two handlers. Once on our feet, we placed out backs to one another, ready to finish the fight. The handlers swung at us with their batons, once they were back on their feet. They started to move in, but halted when a commanding voice called out "Stop." The voice held so much authority that we looked to see who said it.

The speaker was about a head taller than the handlers, and was dressed in full black body armor. Everyone stared at the person, except the handlers. "Dude, that's a Spartan!" Someone whispered, and it quickly spread around the room. As I watched the Spartan approach, something looked off. It wasn't his walk, because it was the smooth walk they all had. When he stopped in front of Lita and I, I guess silently in my mind that he was actually a she. When the Spartan reached up to take off his helmet and I heard the gasps, I knew that my guess was right.

Her short red hair barely touched her shoulders, and her green eyes were sharp and piercing. I held her glare for several minutes before finally lowering my eyes. "Very wise." She said before retrieving her helmet and starting to leave. I was certain that I knew what this chick was, but I needed to be sure.  
"You're a Freelancer, aren't you?"


	3. Chapter 3

Ch3  
The Spartan shook her head, but her eyes answered me truthfully. I nodded slightly, understanding the need for silence. Donning her helmet, she walked off. Some minutes later, we were lead down to a theater. At least, that's what it looked like. On stage, there were five people, all with slightly different armor. The chick with black armor walked onstage as we were lead in, making six on the stage instead of the original five. Then Dr. Hasely walked on and started her speech.

Almost done with her speech, Dr. Hasely beckoned to the first person in the line to step up. "Spartan 058- Linda, in Mark III armor." Linda saluted, and then stepped back as the next person stepped forward. "Spartan 034- Samuel, in Mark IV armor." Samuel saluted as well, and stepped back. "Spartan 104- Frederic, in Mark V armor." Frederic did the same, and our visitor from earlier stepped up as Dr. Hasely launched into a description of the old armor and the upgrades the new one had. "Mark VI armor, shown by Ag-" She stammered, then corrected herself. "Shown by Texas." After that, she dismissed us to our midday meal. Surprisingly, the handlers let us eat in piece.

We found out why in a half hour. They returned, and we 'marched' outside, where a drill sergeant was waiting. "Drop and give me fifty!" He barked when we were all in three equal lines. Not taking a chance to find out what the batons they carried were for, I hit the ground and started doing the pushups. In the background, someone yelped in pain. Apparently some people just cant obey orders. When I finished the 50, I sat back on my heels, until the DI came over. "You done." It wasn't a question, it was more of a statement.

"Yes sir." I answered, not looking at him.

" Again. This time, DO THEM." The DI demanded, turning away. I thought about making a smartass comment back, but I didn't. Instead, I did the pushups, not complaining. When everyone finished the pushups, the DI had other plans. "A hundred Sit-ups. Begin." Apparently we had to do the sit-ups properly, because a few of the kids had to start completely over when they were at a pretty high number. I took my time and did them correctly. From the sounds of it, Lita and Callie had to start over when they were in the 90's. I was surprised when the DI walked past me and didn't have me start over.

When those were finished, there were jumping jacks, leg lifts, and these combination workouts, which included doing a jumping jack, hitting the deck and doing a pushup, then jumping to our feet and repeating the entire process. There were a hundred of each.

By the time we were done, over half of the kids were puking. I'm happy to say that I wasn't one of them. After I downed the small cup of luke-warm water, I walked back and forth across a small strip of land, both cooling down and keeping my muscles warm.

"Lets go! Short run to your new classroom!" I was glad when our handlers moved us into a ragged formation, because I was next to Lita and Callie. Her friend Cole was in front of her, Jessica was in front of me, and a chick name Carmen in front of Lita. The 'Short' run turned out to be about five miles long.

Arriving at our 'classroom' several kids groaned. It was shady, so I didn't understand what they would be groaning about. I walked up the steps and into the class, Lita beside me and the rest of the class following behind. Apparently our new teacher was something called an AI, meaning Artificial Intelligence. It started out real boring, Deji, the AI, then opened a projection about a battle between five Spartans and a couple huge wolves. That changed my perspective on the class immediately.

Before we knew it, the DI was back. Another five mile run, and we arrived at the 'playground.' It was pretty much a jungle gym, except it had ropes, buckets, pulley systems, ladders, bridges, and a rope ladder. At the top of the highest tower was a bell. That was our objective. Ring the bell. Each of the team members had to ring it before sliding to the ground and running back to the DI.

As I looked at the 'playground,' I noticed that a bucket seemed to go all the way to the top. I nudged Lita and Cole, who had gotten into another argument. "Shut up and listen for a minute! We are gonna loose this if y'all don't listen!" I demanded, annoyed with their constant arguing. When they shut up, I continued. "Bucket, Rope, Bell." Both of them glanced at the bucket, then the other teams.

"We'll never make it" Cole said, watching one of the other girls.

"Oh yes we will." Lita and I replied. Cole looked at us, then shook his head.  
"Whatever." We traded glances, and I shrugged. At the sound of the DI's shotgun, everyone jumped forward. Most of the kids ran for the rope ladder, the bridges, or the ropes. My team ran for the bucket, but I got there first. Shoving a kid out of the bucket, I defended the bucket with Lita until Cole got there. When he finally DID get there, we piled in and started pulling.

About halfway up, the bell rang out three times. I looked over at Cole and Lita, and they nodded. Starting from there, we starting working like a team. One of us would reach as high up as we could, then pull down, then someone else would reach up and pull down, then the last person. This way, we covered more ground quickly. When we reached the top, the bell rang out again. John was the only one there, so we simply pushed him out of the way. Cole was the one doing the pushing, not me or Lita. We let him go first, and get a head start on the way back, because we could easily catch him. When Cole was on the ground and headed back to the DI, Lita rung the bell and slid down. When I judged that she was roughly halfway back, I rung the bell and slid to the ground as well.

Jumping down the last few feet, I took off after them, catching Lita easily. Cole waited until we caught up with him before crossing the line. We were the second team to finish, although John was there, the rest of his team was still on the course. Sitting down, Cole watched as the rest of the kids struggled to reach the top. It seemed like he was watching Callie a lot more than anyone else.

Seeing how everyone else was watching the course, I walked over to one of the tree's and climbed up. It took roughly an hour for everyone to get off the course. By that time, most of the kids were asleep on the grass. My team was wide awake, Cole was talking to Callie, and Lita was sitting under the tree I was in.

When the last kid got back, the DI turned around, and apparently didn't like the scene before him. "Fifty pushups, NOW." The kids that were asleep jumped and some looked around confused before flipping over and doing as ordered. Lita was directly underneath my perch, so I couldn't just drop down.

Instead, I just stayed there until they finished, then I dropped down hidden behind the tree. It was late, so I guess most of the kids were expecting a warm bed, good food, and a full belly. This was a training camp! Good food didn't exist, the beds were always cold, and a full belly made you puke. Another five mile run and we were back at our bunk house. Once there, we were taught how to make our bunks and then finally left us alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

In the shadows off to the side of the bunk house, three Spartans crouched behind the bushes. With three quick hand signals, the leader sent his companions to look around. Each one was dressed in black armor, with their own personal color as the secondary color. The leader himself, moved closer under the cover of darkness, his battle rifle loaded and ready. When he made sure that none of the American soldiers were around, he risked an open comm to his comrades. "China, Spain, report."  
"Spain here, All clear on the south side Japan." A warm male voice with a slight Spanish accent said over Japans Comm.  
"No more on the north and east sides." China replied, with the sound of dragging accompanying her report. Japan and Spain both made their way over to China, who was crouched by the bunker door, reloading her rifle with stun rounds. "There was only one guard outside. They must not expect a raid."

"Or they're too stupid to care." Spain replied as he stopped next to Japan.  
"Cut the shit. Remember our objective Spain. Get the kid, get out." When Spain glared at him, Japan sighed. "Fine, get_ your sister_ and get out. China and I will provide cover out here." With that, China moved to the door and took up a position on the left side. Japan held Spain back for some last minute instructions. "Try to get her to come with you willingly. If she wont, knock her out and run."

Even though Spain knew Japan couldn't see past his visor, he still rolled his eyes. Moving over to the door, Spain waited for Japan to take his position before opening the wooden door. Slipping into the dark room, Spain activated his night vision and waited for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change of his visor.  
"You know you could have just turned on the lights…"  
"Not now Beta," Spain said, ignoring the little blue A.I. as he appeared over Spain's left shoulder. "Find my sister. You've seen her enough in my memories." Once again ignoring the A.I.'s remark about dreams, Spain turned and made his way down the left side of the bunk house, while Beta went down the right. Stopping to look at one of the girls, Spain nearly woke up the entire house, but thankfully Beta had returned and kept him quiet.

Taking control over Spain, Beta tried to make him walk away from the young blonde, who was the daughter of the soldiers who killed his best friend. "Walk away Spain. Its not her." Beta said, knowing that the child sleeping before them was indeed the child of the murderers. When Beta finally got Spain to walk away, Spain had his mind set on interrupting a training mission and marking that child so that he could kill her at a later date.

Walking away, Spain nearly walked straight past the bunk where his little sister was sleeping. Kneeling down, he placed his hand over her mouth and woke her up. All she did was look up at him, so Spain released his grip, then reached up to release his helmet. The hiss of the airlock releasing seemed loud in the darkness. "I told you that we would see each other again, and I keep my promises Serena."  
"Leo!" Serena whisper yelled, and threw herself into his arms.  
"Agent Spain. Next patrol in t-minus 32 seconds. I suggest –"  
"Shut up Beta." Spain replied as he stood up carefully. "Serena, we are leaving. I need you to come with us. But there is no coming back." She nodded, and released her grip around his neck, but instead took his hand and followed him out without another look behind her.

Loosing cadets overnight was a usual thing. It didn't matter to the DI, or to Dr. Hasley. Only the strongest would survive this program. Serena and a few other kids had disappeared overnight, and several had died, too many to count. There was roughly 50 of us left, and now we were being sent out on missions to test our ability to follow orders and adapt to new areas. All we were given were black jump suits, rope, and our objective. Along with being told to complete our mission with any means necessary. Little did any of us know that we were being watched by people with two different things in mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch5

"Team two, please report to the pelican for drop. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Cougar, report to the pelican." The Captains voice broke into my concentration. Jumping down from my current position on top of a hornet, I was met by Lita, aka Foxtrot. Cole(Tango) and Callie(Cougar) were just arriving at the Pelican when we got there. Silent nods were the only greeting between us, we were all focused on completing our objective.

As Lita took a seat near the ramp, Cole and Callie took a seat near the middle of the ramp, side by side. When I made my way up to the cockpit, I swear I saw Cole reach over and touch Callie's cheek, but I wasn't sure, as I had moved on. Captain Flowers was already strapped into the pilots seat, and was making sure the pelican was ready for our trip, and prepared to take whatever fire the insurrectionists decided to throw our way. "This is Captain Flowers, requesting liftoff for team two, Mission Classified. "

The same annoying male voice with an unknown accent came back over the comm. "Vic here , I read you loud and clear little dude. Command says you are clear to fly." Rolling my eyes at the Captains remark of 'Shut the hell up and learn freakin English little dude!,' I took the co-pilot seat as flowers fired up the pelicans engines. The initial roar of the engines quieted to a loud purr as we took off into the dying sun.

A few hours later, the pelican hit a patch of rough air and it tossed was around like a ragdoll. Waking from my nap, I was nearly tossed onto the floor. Jumping down, I grabbed the edge of the seat to prevent myself from falling as another draft hit the ship. "I hate flying!" Back in the cockpit, I heard Flowers laugh, but dismissed it as unimportant. In the main cabin, Lita and callie were both strapped in, and Cole was picking himself up off the floor- He must have been the thump I heard. "Damn Cole, your 15 and you cant stay on your feet… Sad.." I joked as I helped him up and pushed him into the seat next to Callie before taking a seat next to Lita. She had been silent the entire ride.

"Team Hellfire, ETA to drop 5 minutes. Less if the weather improves."

"Alright. This is what we have. It's been confirmed that one of the UNSC's military leaders have been feeding the rebels information about our location and battle strategies. We have to infiltrate the building where he will be giving out  more information, and kill him."

"What does security look like?" Cole asked, looking like he already had an idea.

"They have enough soldiers to fill a fifty story building."

"That's a lot of security. This guy must be important."

"On the bright side, first couple of soldiers dead supply us with weapons to take on the rest of the building. Also, anyone who gets in our way or tries to stop us, we get to kill. Any weapons we recover from this mission, and still have at the LZ, we get to keep." Every visibly brightened at the mention of getting to keep the weapons we recover. Usually, we had to give the weapons to the armory, or leave them at the LZ.

Even Lita perked up. "Anyone we encounter who resists us is a target?"

"A minor target yes. Remember that the commander is our first objective. We can not let him escape." As I finished briefing them, the ramp lowered as Flowers brought the pelican around to the landing zone behind the building. No one thought to look twice, because the Commander was bound to have someone come with a message, even though they have comms.

"Lets move people!" Flowers said, already opening a comm-link to Texas. "They're here. Parking the pelican and returning on foot now. Good luck."

"I wont need it."


End file.
